Angel's World
by Supermorff
Summary: A relatively short oneshot Angel piece tracking Lorne after his final appearance in 'Not Fade Away'. Lorne is tired of fighting, but that doesn't mean he has a choice.


A relatively short one-shot Angel piece tracking Lorne after his final appearance in 'Not Fade Away'. Lorne is tired of fighting, but that doesn't mean he has a choice.

**Spoiler Warning:** The last episodes of Angel Season 5, especially 'Not Fade Away', as well as various Angel moments.

**Disclaimer:** I haven't paid for any characters or places, so I own none of them. Nevertheless, just as Joss has creative control of the show, I suppose I have creative control of this story. Stock disclaimers are great, aren't they?

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Lorne padded through the dark, desolate streets of LA. He had nowhere to go now. Caritas hadn't been around for a long time, so there was no sanctuary for him there. Nor could he go home to Pylea - his family would not welcome him. And with his last refuge - the fortress that was once Wolfram and Hart - denied him, he was alone.

It was Angel's fault, he realised. Angel was doing what was right - he was waging war on the Circle of the Black Thorn. He was preventing the Apocalypse. And, technically, Lorne had volunteered. But Lorne hadn't expected the mission he'd been assigned.

Lindsey was the fighter. All Lorne had to do, as far as anyone else knew, was go with Lindsey and make sure he followed through with his end of the deal - wiping out one of the key cults of the Black Thorn. Lindsey had done that. He was just a normal human, and he'd mercilessly slaughtered an entire building full of demons. It made Lorne uncomfortable. He was a demon himself. He wasn't evil, but he had suspicions as to whether that mattered to Lindsey. That was probably why Angel had picked Lorne to do this job.

Lindsey was evil. Lindsey had actually wanted to become a member of the Black Thorn - the only human to do so. But Angel had stopped him, so he'd aligned himself with Angel and his righteous crusade. At least temporarily. And he was a good fighter. Far superior to Lorne. Fortunately, Lorne didn't resort to wielding swords.

A gun. It hadn't been hard to get hold of. Too easy, in fact. Lorne had fired at Lindsey, who had gone down. How many shots had it been? Lorne didn't know. The event was a huge cacophony of noise.

"You're not part of the solution, Lindsey," Lorne had said. "You never were." He had murdered someone. Murdered a _human_. An evil human, true, but he was still human. He had a soul. Heck, he was even doing the right thing for once. Lorne had killed him. He'd never killed anyone before, not even a vampire. But he'd killed Lindsey. And Angel had asked him to.

Lorne didn't want to be a part of Angel's world any more. That was why he hadn't gone to meet up with the others in the alley by the Hyperion Hotel. They were going to make their last stand. To meet the wrath of Hell head on. Let them, Lorne thought to himself. It's not my fight any more.

Maybe he could go back to Las Vegas. He'd been popular there, even if his manager had used him to steal people's destinies. Or he could just turn up in a new city and open another demon club. If he could tell the right people, it could probably be just as popular as Caritas. Maybe he wouldn't make it a karaoke bar this time - he'd had enough of destiny for one lifetime.

He wondered how the others were doing. How many of them had survived to meet by the hotel? Lindsey hadn't. Angel probably had though, and Spike. Illyria probably had. You just could never keep that Old One down. But what about Gunn? And Wesley? One human against a campaign office full of vampires? Or against an ancient warlock? Lorne didn't really want to speculate. Why are the humans always the victims?

It was cold, and Lorne pulled his coat closer around his neck. It started to rain. Lorne hoped the water would wash away his past, let him make a new start. But it wouldn't. Nothing would ever be able to wash away what he'd done.

Lorne shivered, and heard footsteps. He turned. Approaching from behind was a street full of slavering beasts. They came in a multitude of forms, but all looked as though they were rejected by Peter Jackson for being too ugly.

Lorne fell to his knees. The others had met to make a final stand, but Lorne had no strength left to make a final stand. He knelt, the rainwater soaking his clothes and skin, and let them come. Hell could not forgive him for the part he played in Angel's battle, so perhaps Heaven still could.

The horde fell upon him. He wouldn't be a part of Angel's world any longer.


End file.
